Now a special Buddhist circuit train

Eyeing to woo domestic as well as foreign tourists, Railways is now all set to run a special train to cover the Buddhist circuit in India and Nepal.

The Railways plan to run Mahaparinirvan Express, a special train to cover the Buddhist circuit, from January 12. "It would be rolled out from Chennai to cover 12 Buddhist circuit centres in just 15 days," an official at the camp office of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in Patna said.

According to the railway sources, the special Buddhist train is the brainchild of the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation. It will be fully air-conditioned and will have first-class, second-class and three-tier compartments.

The Mahaparinirvan Express would cover Gaya in Bihar, where Buddha attained enlightenment, Varanasi, Agra, Gonda and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Buhubaneswar in Orissa and Lumbini in Nepal, where Buddha was born.

"The route of the special Buddhist train was finalised to connect all important Buddhist destinations to help the pilgrims as well as tourists," a railway official told rediff.com on Saturday.

The train will make seven trips from January 12 to May 24 in 2007 for pilgrims and tourists.

Japanese Bank to fund roads

The Japanese Bank of International Co-operation will fund to convert the existing 320 kms roads into four lane in Bihar's Buddhist circuit zone.

R K Singh, secretary, state road construction department said that the Japanese bank has agreed in principal and the Bihar government will submit a feasibility report to the bank by February 2007.

The existing roads connecting Buddhist holy shrines in Bihar are in very bad shape. It discouraged foreign tourists, particularly from the Buddhist countries.

The project is estimated to cost Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion), Singh told rediff.com.

The Buddhist circuit includes Bodh Gaya, Rajgrih, Nalanda and Vaishali.